Late inning relievers

[Sports Guy]

Why are the O's even pursuing one?

I know Buck likes to have BP flexibility but right now, you have JJ, Koji and Gonzo for the late innings.

Why would we be trying to overpay for a mediocre reliever who has a lot of valued tied up in saves?

[Frobby]

Why are the O's even pursuing one?

I know Buck likes to have BP flexibility but right now, you have JJ, Koji and Gonzo for the late innings.

Why would we be trying to overpay for a mediocre reliever who has a lot of valued tied up in saves?

Because all three spent significant time on the DL last year, and in previous years.

[CrimsonTribe]

Personally I'm not against signing a Gregg type to rack up the saves and using my better relievers in more crucial spots.

[Sports Guy]

Because all three spent significant time on the DL last year, and in previous years.

Shouldn't they have thought about that before signing Gonzo?

[isestrex]

because you can never have enough. AM has done a great job of trading relievers for prospects and signing them to reasonable deals can only help down the road.

GM's ALWAYS overpay for solid bullpen help in late July

[Shopay]

What the consensus on Theo giving Jenks 2/$12 million?

[Sports Guy]

What the consensus on Theo giving Jenks 2/$12 million?

I think it was a decent deal.,,Maybe a little too much money but Jenks has some sick peripherals..Should be very good.

[Sports Guy]

because you can never have enough. AM has done a great job of trading relievers for prospects and signing them to reasonable deals can only help down the road.

GM's ALWAYS overpay for solid bullpen help in late July

Who has he done a great job with besides Sherrill?

And who has been signed to a reasonable deal that can help us down the road?

[isestrex]

Who has he done a great job with besides Sherrill?

And who has been signed to a reasonable deal that can help us down the road?

Bradford for one... and I meant that signing these relievers (Gregg, Fuentes et al) can only help down the road. I didn't mean that the players we traded for were signed.

[Sports Guy]

Bradford for one... and I meant that signing these relievers (Gregg, Fuentes et al) can only help down the road. I didn't mean that the players we traded for were signed.

Oh yea? Who did we get for Bradford?

How do you know they can only help down the road? What if they get hurt? What if their performance sucks while carrying a high price tag?

[Frobby]

Shouldn't they have thought about that before signing Gonzo?

Yes. When the reports came out that we hadn't done an MRI on Gonzo before we signed him, I was extremely critical. They absolutely should have done everything possible to check him out before paying him $12 mm and giving up a 2nd round pick. I think there were some explanations that they O's needed to move quickly if they were going to get him, and that MRI's are often not definitive in any event, but I never really bought those explanations.

But now, we are where we are. There actually was a period last year where Gonzo, Koji and JJ were all on the shelf simultaneously. That's how Simon got to be the closer, and then he went on the DL after a leg injury while covering 1B. So you take all that, add in the fact that Berken has a labrum tear that may or may not hamper him, Hernandez has been traded, and Albers was let go, and it makes for a pretty dicey situation. Of course, if everyone's healthy in 2011, it could be an awesome back end of the bullpen without adding anyone.

By the way, I still think it is possible that Jake Arrieta becomes a back-end bullpen guy one day. I think he'd be awesome in that role. But he was decent as a starter last year, and unless and until Tillman and Britton are performing solidly in the rotation, that move isn't likely to happen.

[Johnny]

Why are the O's even pursuing one?

I know Buck likes to have BP flexibility but right now, you have JJ, Koji and Gonzo for the late innings.

Why would we be trying to overpay for a mediocre reliever who has a lot of valued tied up in saves?

I hear what you're saying, and most times I agree with it, but I can see how bringing in another experienced/affective late inning guy could be a good move: and one we could over-pay for without much trouble.

Yeah, middle relievers are not the best way to throw the money around -insert your own laundry list of bad Orioles' signings. Pure speculation here, but we may have picked up a little budget flexibility by missing on VMart (I doubt we go over $10 for Lee or LaRoche).

Let's say it is $10. We were willing to pay $12 for first (the rest of the infield is pretty much a wash from last year: Reynolds/Hardy/Izturis/Fox cost roughly what Miggy/Wiggy/Izzy/Lugy cost).


Add the 1B budget savings to the $2mill we saved on Koji and you have the money for one of these relievers.

With 80 percent of our starters being so young, the bullpen seems like a good place to make something happen with the leftover money.

[SteveA]

Shouldn't they have thought about that before signing Gonzo?

Of course they should have.

But that's water under the bridge. That mistake was made. Now we have to deal with what we have, and that means we need more bullpen arms because some of the ones we have are fragile.

Now I'm not in favor of paying Gregg what it appears he's going to get either, I think there are better pitchers out there we could get cheaper, like Manny Delcarmen.

But I definitely believe we need to pick up another couple bullpen arms.

[wildcard]

Why are the O's even pursuing one?

I know Buck likes to have BP flexibility but right now, you have JJ, Koji and Gonzo for the late innings.

Why would we be trying to overpay for a mediocre reliever who has a lot of valued tied up in saves?

Because the O's need 7 guys in the pen not just 3 and they will need several at AAA to fill in for injuries.

[Sports Guy]

Because the O's need 7 guys in the pen not just 3 and they will need several at AAA to fill in for injuries.

This doesn't address why are they trying to overpay for late inning relievers whose value is driven by the saves column.